EnviroPRO's Treatment for Bed Bugs

EnviroPRO Pest Solution Professional's Bed Bug Elimination Program includes:

• Educating and communicating with all affected parties on the biology and habits of bed bugs, their prevention and control
• Making recommendations to residents about reducing clutter, laundering of clothing and bed linens, and other tasks
• Making recommendations to property managers about sealing cracks and crevices, correcting structural deficiencies, making mechanical alterations or modifying architecture to prevent or reduce the likelihood of infestation
• Emphasizing inspection as part of the management program
• The use of nonchemical tools, strategies and technologies as well as insecticides to kill bed bugs where they hide and travel
• Physically removing or killing visible and accessible bed bugs and their eggs, either immediately or though residual effects
• Continue the service plan until the infestation is controlled (Heat treatment is typically one treatment)

Multiple methods of control are employed at EnviroPRO Pest Solution Professionals.
Our approach combines multiple treatment methods to achieve control including:

Thermal Remediation (Heat Treatments)

Heat treatments can be used to treat and control bed bugs in:

• A whole structure
• An apartment unit, a room, or a portion of a room
• A compartment, container or storage unit containing furniture and possessions
• Can be used safely in sensitive accounts including daycares, long term care facilities, hospitals, hotels/motels, apartments and single family homes

Heat treatments typically have a higher tolerance for cluttered environments than traditional pesticide applications. This is often the case in smaller apartments. When conducting whole room heat treatments, our equipment has the capacity to raise and hold the temperature in the treated area to a bed bug lethal level. Through the use of wireless, remote heat sensors, bed bug harborage areas are raised to a lethal temperature and held for a sufficient period of time to kill all bed bugs and its eggs. Because some areas are insulated, or slower to heat, sensors are always placed in hard-to-heat areas that ensure that the core temperature of the treated item/items reach lethal levels for a sufficient period of time. For whole room heat treatments, the preventive use of insecticides in walls and under carpet edges, prior to treatment, may complement treatment by killing bugs attempting to move away from the heat. Heat has synergistic effects in these cases.

Vacuuming

• Physical removal of large numbers of bed bugs can quickly reduce population in heavy infestations
• Vacuuming will cause the area to appear less infested when bed bug debris has been removed and it will be easier to identify any new activity

Insecticides

The use of heat to kill bed bugs greatly reduces the necessity of insecticidal treatments, however, based on level of infestation, structural deficiencies, and probable outcomes; it may be desirable to supplement a Thermal Remediation service with a residual product. EnviroPRO Pest Solution Professionals shall always read and follow all label instructions when applying insecticides and follow all instructions on the label including:

• Special instructions related to bed bugs, including whether and how the product can be applied to beds and furniture and in living areas
• Specific instructions as to how much time must pass before reapplication, keeping in mind that alternative products may be used, if necessary, in the interim
• Choose products that have been shown to be effective in published research, as discussed in pest control meetings, from our own experiences and that of other pest management professionals
• Choose products labeled for the target site
• Apply insecticides to places where bed bugs hide, travel and deposit eggs, carefully adhering to all label instructions

Treatment Sites

Typical treatment sites are places where bed bugs hide, or are suspected including, but not limited to the following:

• Bed frames, particularly cracks, crevices, holes, and wherever two surfaces join together
• Mattresses and box springs
• Treat cracks, crevices, voids, drawer slides, and the undersides of horizontal surfaces
• Treat under cushions, behind skirting, in seams, underneath and inside voids in upholstered furniture
• Cracks and crevices near infested areas along baseboards, crown moldings, window and door frames, as well as nail holes, damaged walls, chipped paint, etc
• Under carpet edges, tack strips of wall-to-wall carpeting, cracks and seams in hardwood floors, etc. near infested areas
• Inside receptacles and switch plates, light fixtures, wire runs and pipe runs near infested areas
• In severe infestations, treatment sites may include inside wall voids of infested rooms, drapes, ceiling/wall intersections, drop ceilings over beds, and many sites too numerous to list
• In hotels, treatment sites often include service carts, laundry carts, and luggage racks
• Access to treatment sites may require removing carpets, molding, baseboards, wallpaper, and other major actions.

* Source: National Pest Management Association Bed Bug Best Practices. EnviroPRO Pest Solution Professionals is a proud member of the National Pest Management Association and subscribes to the treatment methodologies put forth in its Best Management Practices for Bed Bugs. Link to complete BMP's http://allthingsbedbugs.pestworld.org/best-practices/guidelines.aspx#bp1175

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